Three recent graduates from the University of Missouri–St. Louis walked away from Tucson, Ariz., earlier this year earning second place in the 2013 Financial Service Professionals National Industry Issues Competition.

The team, made up of Anna Marie Curran, William J. Hediger IV and Michael Orso, was one of three university teams selected as finalists. The UMSL team competed in the finals against teams from Texas Tech University in Lubbock and William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J. Texas Tech earned first place in the competition.

Curren, Hediger and Orso earned bachelor’s degrees in business administration in December. The trio began the competition while still students at UMSL. They were invited to participate in the competition, sponsored by the Society of Financial Service Professionals, based on a paper they submitted on “Best Practices in Identifying and Evaluating Specific Careers in the Financial Services Profession.”

From the papers submitted, three finalist teams were than selected to make an oral presentation before a panel of judges. In addition to earning second place, the UMSL students received $3,000 in scholarship money for the university based on their combined paper and oral presentation.

“This team has worked long and hard on this, and all deserve a hearty congratulations,” said Gary Flotron, senior lecturer in finance at UMSL, who lead the team.